GROW YOUR OWN HERB TEA
by Robin Wheeler, Owner, Edible Landscapes

We always seem to equate the words “herbal tea” with something fresh and wholesome for our bodies. But we forget what a big business herb teas are now, and that the herbs are harvested and stored by the ton (losing freshness) and that they may not even be organically grown. We are also paying a premium for fancy (wholesome looking!) packaging and for the fossil fuels it took to bring the tea to us.

Fortunately, growing our own herb teas is one of the easiest of garden tasks. Here’s how I do it: I have cleaned out a patch the size of a big bathtub in the yard (average soil, medium sun) and have planted peppermint, lemon balm and Bergamot. These plants make a great tea blend in any combination, dry easily and keep their flavour. I can get young plants from friends, buy them at the Farmer’s Market, or, if completely hard pressed, buy them at a nursery.

At any rate, having purchased my young plants in the most planet friendly way I can, I take them home and place them in their newly cleared patch of semi shaded yard, and I water them well for a month to get them established. On a clear day in late summer, I can start cutting back a good third of the stems and hanging them to dry. By the time I have stripped the dry leaves off those branches into paper bags or jars, I can check and see when there is enough new growth to take another cutting. By fall, I can just allow the “tea garden” to die down naturally, and I can protect it with a thick layer of leaves from the garden. By next spring, it will all be back, and I will be just finishing the last cup from my tea mix. I won’t need to even feed this garden, if I use a good mulch in the winter.

When I want to make up a batch of tea, I pull out my paper bags of dry herbs and toss equal amounts into a jar for the kitchen. The less the leaves are pulverized at the time, the more oils will be retained. I give them a good crush when I drop them into the teapot. My friends are all surprised at how fresh the flavour is.

There are a lot of plants that make great tea, and none of them need to be stored in a warehouse for a year, or need to go for a ride in a truck. That’s good for the planet, and good for me!

Robin Wheeler is the owner of Edible Landscaping and author of the Gardening Book Gardening for the Faint of Heart. Start growing your own herbal teas, check out Robins Teas & Seeds page!